Capturing leaders of the enemy in conflict as basis for solution, often (5)

(T(he) E(nemy)) in WAR

19

MACULATE

Spotted initially mocking at a clue that’s absurd (8)

M(ocking) + [AT A CLUE]*

21

ORIGINAL

What can be said about one drink that’s not already said (8)

(1 GIN) in ORAL

23

ARCHER

Head off participant in moving protest that’s more shrewd (6)

(m)ARCHER

24

SCALES

Does some climbing, making lots of notes (6)

Double definition

26

LION

Male with pride put up new work of art (4)

N OIL all reversed

28

BULL

Kind of speculator that’s on target (4)

Double definition

29

GOAT

Vigorously attack lecherous type (4)

GO AT

*anagram

Thanks to PD for the software.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 at 9:55 am and is filed under Guardian.
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42 Responses to “Guardian 25,816 by Brendan”

Thanks Brendan and Flashling. The theme helped me and this didn’t take long. I don’t think we need ‘phish’ in 3 down (though it’s valid) as fishing (for info) is an idiom on its own, I think (TV barristers are forever on ‘fishing expeditions’) ‘Say’ does suggest a homophone, it’s true, but it could also indicate one example of an information-seeking style.

Thanks to flashling and Brendan.
This was a very clever and enjoyable crossowrd, so it is a pity that a few of the clues are slightly flawed.
I parsed CELESTIAL as you did, flashling, and don’t think it is quite satisfactory (though someone may come up with a better explanation, as you say).
Doesn’t 22ac work more elegantly without the “and others”? I know that horses other than Arabs can be found in stables, but some stables will only have Arab inhabitants.
17ac is “in a way” needed? IONIC is “charged” and an order of Greek architecture.
SCORPION = WHIP is also a bit obscure. I solved it from the parsing, then used Google. There are “whip scorpions”, but, apart from one obscure reference that seemed to be about a computer game, all the on the first couple of pages were to snowmobiles – OK, so there is a connection, but a solver is unlikely to associate “whip” with “snowmobile” surely?
Having said all that, it was still very enjoyable.

What a lovely puzzle! BIRTH SIGN was my first entry, so I was on the alert from the start but it was by no means a write-in, as the clues were nicely disguised. I really liked both parts of WATER CARRIER, for their construction, surfaces and wordplay.

S = small is commonplace in garment labelling and I don’t think it usually causes controversy. [And I’ve just discovered that it is in Collins.] A lovely misleading clue, anyway.

My favourite has to be 13ac, which made me laugh out loud.

muffin @2 – strange the things that stick in your head: I remember, from primary school, the biblical quotation, ‘My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions’ [whyever did we learn that?] and both Collins and Chambers have ‘scorpion = a barbed scourge’.

There was certainly no missing the theme today! My way in was via “crab” and “ram”. Then I got the rather nifty 5D – “supposedly influential…” eh? He couldn’t have got all 12 in could he? Well, yes, he could. It has often been a complaint from certain quarters that list themes of this sort make for an easy solve, and I have to admit that in terms of difficulty level this puzzle put up very little resistance. However, massive hats off to Brendan: to fit in all 12 zodiacal signs, plus “birth sign”, “planet”, “celestial” and “astrologer” without any of the rest of the grid feeling an any way forced is truly impressive.

That said, I have to admit that the parsing of “scorpion” and “trivial” did escape me. I didn’t pause in writing them in: the former as it was the only place in the grid that my own 11 would fit and the latter because “frivolous” worked as the definition and it couldn’t be anything else given the crossing letters.

With 10 I did wonder if the letters to be removed from “isosceles triangle” to leave “celestial” would be specifically indicated in some way, but they don’t seem to be.

Some very nice definitions: “basis for solution”, “delivery period”, “person spreading complaint” – the last sadly very relevant, what with noro virus currently ripping through schools at a frightening rate.

So, much easier than some recent puzzles (I struggled with Rufus yesterday and Gordius last week for the record) but thoroughly enjoyable and ten out of ten for construction.

Fun puzzle, where the theme helped (me) a lot. I can’t say that I was particularly affronted by any of the clues, though I agree with muffin @2 that there is some extraneous verbiage in a few. I rather liked the clue for CELESTIAL, which I parsed exactly as all those above.

Re flashling’s comment about 22a, S = ‘small’ doesn’t appear in Chambers – mystifyingly, since this abbreviation is widespread on clothing (or are other contributors XXL and therefore find it unfamiliar? :)).

I am inclined to agree with DunsScotus @1 re ‘fishing’. My late father was employed during and after “the late unpleasantness” in a branch of the so-called Intelligence Services and I remember him speaking of ‘fishing expeditions’ in that context.

I believe that the contemporary usage “phishing” has evolved from the sense that postrophe refers to in post 10 – hence either interpretattion works, though I feel the “say” implies the “sounds like” of “ph”.

It would be interesting to hear from Brendan on this – hope he drops in.

Despite knowing that Brendan likes themes, I had solved a majority of the signs before I realised what was going on – a tribute to the cluing. An excellent puzzle. I was troubled at first re ‘water’ until I found ‘carrier’.

Very enjoyable. Thanks flashling. In 10a (in addition to the obvious definition) I imagined removing all the sides of a triangle, and what was left was space (That’s almost the definition of transcendental: there’s a hole in a sandbank, the floods wash away the sand without disturbing the hole)

As you say, an accessible and enjoyable puzzle, though I hampered myself to start with by blindly writing in BIRTH DATE at 11ac, until the down clues made me rethink, by which time I already had several of the theme answers without realising

Happy to say you’re not alone, Stella – I toyed with “birth date” for a while, but it didn’t seem to fit so I didn’t write it in. And I didn’t even twig when I had spotted the theme (which was very early on). Felt like a right klutz when I finally spotted the answer – it was one of my last in.

Two levels to the clue for 13D: a pair sharing a birth sign could have been born on the same day and so be twins (and if they are twins it would be very unusual for them to have different birth signs as they would have to be born either side of midnight on the cusp); the birth sign that they share could be Gemini, ie the twins.

Thanks all
A rather odd puzzle.
I found six rather clever clues ( 12, 13, 15 22 ac; 6, 7 d), unfortunately I found most of them to be very easy too.
However clever, a clue can never be highly rated if it fails to puzzle the solver,its prime purpose.
Last in was 2d,my knowledge of biblical lore is as sparse as my interest in 6d’s rubbish,hence the theme almost passed me by.
It did not quite which is why I was confused by 2d since there was no reference to it in the clue.
Overall,a middling effort, but not up to this compiler’s usual standard.

Yes, good stuff, but curiously for this setter there WERE a few small Qs about some clues, as we have discussed. I’m also slightly familiar with this theme for some reason. OR, I must be an avatar of Russell Grant or something!!!!

Trebor @27
Since you seem to have joined the ranks (actually not so many) of those who delight in criticising my comments I will attempt to correct your misleading post.
Last week:
Mon. too easy
Tues. I enjoyed this
Wed. Araucaria rarely does disappoint
Thurs. Well done compiler
Fri. An enjoyable toughie.
Or is it that it is just considered beyond the pale for any mere solver (and purchaser of the paper) to dare to criticise those god-like figures who ean their livings by compiling crosswords.
Some of you seem to read anything critical which I write and turn a blind eye to the many compliments I post.
If you think I exaggerate, read rhotician’s kind detailing last week of what he thought it would be aceptable for me to post.

My new copy of Chambers defines “fish” as “to seek information, compliments etc. by indirect means”. So “say” indicates that it’s not only information that can be fished (for). My old copy of Chambers has one of those Chambers jokes: ” to catch or try to catch or obtain fish, or anything that may be likened to a fish (such as seals, sponges, coral, compliments, information or husbands”.

In 17 across, “in a way” is appropriate since something could be charged in various ways. In 3D, “say” is appropriate since things other than information may be fished for. In both cases, crossword cliches are suggested — S***T and homophone. I’m not sure when it became wrong in a cryptic crossword to (a) make a definition precise, (b) offer ambiguity.

For 12 across, at Rugby (school), there is inscribed in stone (see Wikpedia entry on William Webb Ellis) the following:

THIS STONE
COMMEMORATES THE EXPLOIT OF
WILLIAM WEBB ELLIS
WHO WITH A FINE DISREGARD FOR THE RULES OF FOOTBALL
AS PLAYED IN HIS TIME
FIRST TOOK THE BALL IN HIS ARMS AND RAN WITH IT
THUS ORIGINATING THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF
THE RUGBY GAME
A.D. 1823